A compiled list of all Hereditary spells, the Dwarven Magic and also two things which were forgotten in the last blog, Magic Resistance and Wizard Conclaves . Hence, before we are kicking it off with the different Magic Paths, lets take a look at those two forgotten topics

Magic Resistance, as a concept, is something many games have implemented. Looking at the background and how different materials affect Magic (Obsidian is one of the materials which mitigates magic) it was more than obvious, that Magic Resistance should also get a proper representation in this game.

The current (1.3) rules, while fitting from a pure background perspective, are rather lacking in game. To tackle this exact problem, Magic Resistance got reworked completely into something many players are already familiar with. Why? Cause many of you suggested this over the last two years:

Second Edition WIP BRB wrote:

A spell that is targeting at least one enemy unit with one or more models with Magic Resistance suffers a -X modifier to its casting rolls (where X is given in brackets). This is an exception to the Casting and Dispelling Modifier rules. If there are different X values that could be used, use the highest.

Note: Aura spells with the type "Universal" or "Hex/damage" are also affected by this. You need to look, if any enemy models with Magic Resistance are in range and if yes, apply the highest Magic Resistance value among them.

A very nice and clean solution for this problem while also having a great background connection.

Wizard Conclaves got mainly a rules update so that they are working properly in the new Magic Phase. While the concept of pre determined spells and the Champion focus for them are still the same, there are some changes to it:

For most Wizard Conclave only little will change. The Champion is still the Wizard in the unit, gets still the additional Health Point and Characteristic increase and also has "Channel (1)" due to being a Wizard Adept. However, as long as the respective spells known to the Champion are not "Replicable Spells" or "Bound Spells" you will only be able to attempt to cast each spell once in a turn.

This is a big change how they are working currently, where most Wizard Conclaves are just there for double dipping into great spells. However, since the respective Team is aware, that fielding more than one unit of the same Wizard Conclave would be kinda useless, counter measures have been taken to prevent this exact problem. Most of the times the solution is either access to more spells to chose from or access to a "Replicable Spell".

After cleaning up the last two missing topics from the Issue 12 blog post, lets take a look at the Paths of Magic.

While there will be disappointment, that only four Paths from ten will get released today, we still need some stuff left for the official release

However, the Paths have been chosen in a way, that each army COULD playtest already the new Magic Phase. While it might not be the best option for the given army it still allows a first impression, if you are willingly test it.

Besides this, please keep in mind, while the Magic Document is currently marked as "done", there could still be some changes before the release, be it layout or rules related parts.

One of the most complained Paths currently, due to how the Metagame changed over the last one and a half years. Both the sheer number of hits it can generate with single spells (boosted Scorching Salvo and boosted Pyrocastic Flow) combined with a good Strength and Armour Piercing value made the Path godly in a world of smaller units.

This meant, the Path needed some form of nerf going forward. Furthermore, due to the new Spell Generation the Path needed a new Spell order, otherwise this would have lead to some obvious strong and frankly said unnecessary combinations in the Path itself.

Addressing the problems of Witchcraft were not easy to begin with. The feeling of an not straight forward but more of an "tricky" Path should be essential to it. Furthermore, it needed more than simple cost reductions here and there, since the design of some spells itself were fundamentally flawed.

This brings us to the new and still old Witchcraft. It got overall a lot more powerful in it's effects, but it retained the "tricky" feeling as it should have.

"Raven's Wing"'s Magical Movement distance got increased, for both the normal as boosted version. Furthermore, you can now perform a Sweeping Attack with it

"Deceptive Glamour" got changed to a version of the "old" Shadow Miasma

"The Wheel Turns" also can be used now to "boost" your own unit (or rather even the playing fields for both sides )

"Will-o'-the-Wisp" has now a boosted version, which grants more Random Movement

"Bewitching Glare" got a complete rework.

So what the heck is "Shaken"?

It is a new rule, which can be triggered from different sources. Be it that you rallied your fleeingunit this turn or made a failed Charge ("Shaken until the end of the Player Turn"), or that your failed your "Decimated" test (won't spoiler that one ). Basically, it streamlines several different rules explaining the same thing (but "Decimated", which is something completely new), which boils down to the following:

Due to the implementation of Hereditary Spells or Attributes/Abilities, Evocation could finally fix its more than glaring problem of being mandatory for the Undeads but having a "dead" spell for the other armies.

Regarding the powerlevel of Evocation, it was already in a good spot, neither to strong nor to bad. Hence, it received both minor nerfs as some buffs besides the obvious casting value reductions due to the drop of casting boni.

The only big change is a new Attribute, or rather, an Attribute to begin with, since the old Trait Spell was removed and thus leaved open a gap to fill for the Path.

New Attribute, which is called the same as the old Trait Spell but grants you Veil Tokens instead

Different spells have been switched around to prevent double Snipers on a single Wizard Adept

"Hasten the Hour" got a normal version while the boosted version is the same as the old one

"Whispers of the Veil" is no longer a "Remains in Play" (RiP spells got removed from the game) but instead "Last one Turn". This is also true for most other former RiP spells, either they got reworked completely (or removed like "Immolation") or changed to "Last one Turn". Notable exception: "The Oaken Throne" which works similar as under 1.3.

The boosted version of "Danse Macabre" got nerfed

Overall, besides 9 casting value changes, not much has happened with the Path.

Now, lets take a look at the final Path, which allows (close to) all armies to start testing the new magic phase IF you want to do so.

Divination is one of the most picked Paths, not because it is broken, but because it has a lot of things needed for the armies which have access to it. It can deal with different scary Monsters while also being able to buff up your own troops.

Furthermore, its design is flavourful and fits the term "Divination" very well. Hence, spell redesigns where not necessary regarding the flavour and/or background, which occurred in several other Paths.

Besides the necessarily to remove a spell (only 6 spells per Path but Druidism (special snowflake )), this only left some balance changes, be it due to the new magic system or because of being a tad to weak or strong.

For many players the respective Hereditary spells are already known. However, here is a quick overview of them, if you have not checked all of them out yet.

If you want to discuss them, the link to the respective discussion threads can be found at the respective Hereditary Spells.

Besides this, you can now find all casting values too from the respective Hereditary Spells (those have been finalised for now). Furthermore, several of the ACS guys have written smaller background pieces for their respective Hereditary Spell.

Also, several of the names are still work in progress (11 our of 16 have been finalised). However, the (maybe) updated names have not found their way into this spoiler, to have a link to the respective ACS spoiler and thus no confusion can arise.

WIP Hereditary Spell - Highborn Elves wrote:

When a unit within 18" of the caster would lose a Health Point, one Veil Token may be discarded instead (this is done after saves and Devastating Blow multipliers) and the Health Point loss is ignored. For Standard Infantry, up to 2 HP losses are ignored per token (provided that they are suffered simultaneously). A maximum of two Veil tokens may be spent per game phase for such purpose. Characters and Gigantic models can only ignore a single lost HP this way per phase.

"As the swirl of melee unfolds, the control that the Highborn Elf masters of spell craft exert on the battlefield leaves many an enemy dumbfounded, seemingly distorting and warping the reality itself. An elf they clearly saw impaled on their spear now sidesteps it, delivering a death blow he himself evaded, a marksmans arrow striking true for the eye of a great dragon shatters to a thousand pieces, a cannon shot plowing towards a shining knight vaporized into dust.... Sigils prepared in advance make a powerful tool in the hands of a wizard skilled in their usage, and there are none more adept at the fine art of sigaldry than the Highborn masters of magical art."

WIP Hereditary Spell - Infernal Dwarves wrote:

Cloud of Magnesium Ash

Hex, Permanent

5+ Range: 24"

The target gains Flammable. At the end of any phase, if the target has suffered at least one hit with Flaming Attacks this phase, it suffers an additional D3+1 hits with Strength 4, Armour Penetration 0 and Flaming Attacks, and the spell ends.

WIP Hereditary Spell - Kingdom of Equitaine wrote:

Natural to-hit and to-wound rolls of '1' with Close Combat Attacks made by the target must be re-rolled. Natural Armour Save rolls of '1' must also be re-rolled.

As the damsel speaks to the scarred places of Equitaine, a soft breeze blows around the defenders of the Kindom, graciously tilting the scales if the battle in flavour of the chivalrous knights in shiny armours.

Undying Dynasties have no traditional Hereditary Spell like many other armies. Instead they have a Racial Attribute Spell, which get get cast, if you cast any form of Augment spell on your units.

WIP Hereditary Attribute - Undying Dynasties wrote:

A No Rest in Death

Augment, Instant

This Spell targets a single unit that was also the target of the Spell that triggered the Racial Attribute Spell.

This target Raises a number of Health Points equal to the Evoked value of the R&F models in the unit. If the unit contains any Characters, you may instead choose a single Character in the target. This Character Raises a number of Health Pints equal to its Evoked Value. Characters and models with Towering Presence cannot Raise more than 2 Health Points in each Magic Phase from "No Rest in Death".

WIP Hereditary Spell - Vampire Convenant wrote:

When resolving this spell, chose one of the following for each target:
- The R%F part of the target Raises a number of Health Points equal to its Evoked value
- Up to one Character within the target Recovers a number of Health Points equal to its Evoked value.

WIP Hereditary Spell - Warriors of the Dark Gods wrote:

The target suffers 2D6 hits with Strength 2, Armour Penetration 2, and Magical Attacks. Before rolling for the number of hits you may discard up to 3 Soul Tokens from your Soul Token pool. The hits gain +1 Strength for each discarded Soul Token.

We could see him from across the field, an unworldly aura coalescing around him. The very fabric of the world seemed to flee from his advance. Then, with a sudden gesture of his clawed hands, the air around us started to crack and split. What vomited forth from that unholy place melted men and armour alike. I could hear his mad cackles spewing out from the tear in the veil... it still haunts my dreams.

As a goody we have something specially prepared for you. Thanks goes to our Lord and Master Admin @Iluvatar. He was so nice and hammered out the respective Magic Cards for the 4 Paths, all the Hereditary Spells, Abilities or Attributes and also for the Dwarven Magic. Give that man a beer like the next time he posts something

The reworked magic lists adressed realy the issues and seem quite usefull - and not over the top. Thanks also for that comprehensive list of the Hereditary Spells (which fit the theme of the armies quite nicely)